Does digitisation affect the daily business of the law departments of Austrian banks? Together with Future-Law, LexisNexis and MindTake, fwp conducted a survey on this future-oriented topic and presented the results at an exclusive evening event on 21 January 2020 in Vienna. Following the presentation, fwp partner Markus Fellner, General Counsel of UniCredit Bank Austria AG Alexander Schall, founder of Argus (legal tech start-up) Karl Philip Prinzhorn and Managing Partner of Future-Law Sophie Martinetz discussed the results. The panel discussion was anchored by Dejan Jovicevic, CEO of Brutkasten Media GmbH.

Digitisation still in its infancy

A selective survey was carried out in the law departments of Austrian banks. According to the respondents, at present, the level of digitisation in their field is still relatively low.   More than half of the respondents have not budgeted for legal tech tools, and only about nine per cent have a digital strategy in the first place. Some 21 per cent of the survey participants are of the opinion that digitisation currently has a very strong or extremely strong impact on the success of their law department.”

The future looks more digital

However, the majority expect digital advisory services to result in a cost advantage and would use digital legal tools provided by their legal advisor. Some two thirds of the respondents can imagine using digital assistants in the future for preparing matters related to banking law and regulatory issues.

Great potential for banks and legal advisors

Despite the currently low level of digitisation within law departments of Austrian banks, the respondents believe that is has great potential. For example, it is assumed that new business models, or new players, will have a great influence on the banking sector in future. Furthermore, more than 70 per cent believe that these new business models will conquer the banking market.

“This development shows that Artificial Intelligence is a valuable tool for reducing transaction costs, simplifying processes and increasing efficiency and quality. However, the legal tasks we as business lawyers are confronted with on a daily basis are too complex to be entirely realised by digital tools, for unravelling such complexity is exactly the essential competence that makes for a successful lawyer”, says Markus Fellner.